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Pantaenus
2nd century
Ancient Christian Church
Alexandria / Egypt


Pantaenus left no written indications of his own work or thought, but as first known head of the Christian philosophical or catechetical school at Alexandria, he made an unmistakable impact upon the development of church theology. The direct succession from him provides the source of information. Clement's (c. 150-215) metaphor of the "Sicilian bee" makes probable his place of origin, though he has also been called the "Samaritan Stoic"; his Christianity had taken him as missionary evangelist as far east as India.

He is dated by the direct role he played as teacher of Clement who succeeded him, of Alexander (d. 250) who studied under them both and was later bishop of Cappadocia and then of Jerusalem (Aelia), and of Origen (c. 185-254) who may have been too young to have been taught directly by him but whose martyred father, Leonides (d. c. 202/203), was Pantaenus' contemporary and of like mind. His philosophy was Stoicism and his literary interests were classical; considering the exegetical writings of his successors, this would account not only for their strong emphasis upon a divine literature, but also for their allegorical methodology in interpreting the same.

Clyde Curry Smith


Bibliography (see abbreviation table below):

J 36
Q2.1.2; FOTC 100 59-60; ODCC 1010; NIDCC 745 (C. C. Smith); OEEC 639 (S. Lilla); GEEC 859 (E. Ferguson).

Supplementary Bibliography:
Eusebius, The Ecclesiastical History and the Martys of Palestine, 2 volumes, (London: SPCK) Volume I: Translation by John Ernest Leonard Oulton (1927); Volume II: Introduction, Notes, and Index, by Hugh Jackson Lawlor (1928): V. 10, 11; VI. 14.8-9, 19.12-14 (includes citations from Clement, Alexander, and Origen).
R. M. Grant, Miracle and Natural Law in Graeco-Roman and Early Christian Thought (Amsterdam: North-Holland Publishing Company, 1952): 106; 1957: 85; 1970: 63, 199-200; 1988: 176-177.
Philip Carrington, The Early Christian Church, 2 volumes (Cambridge: At the University Press, 1957): II. 275, 277, 283, 405, 438, 451.
A. Badawy, Coptic Art and Archeology (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1978): 4.
W. H. C. Frend, The Rise of Christianity (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1984): 243, 253, 286, 369.


This article, received in 2000, was researched and written by Dr. Clyde Curry Smith, Professor Emeritus of Ancient History and Religion, University of Wisconsin, River Falls.

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Abbreviations and Source References for Ancient African Christians



J Jerome, Lives of Illustrious Men. Cited by chapter number.
G Gennadius, List of the Authors whom Gennadius added, after the death of the Blessed Jerome. Cited by chapter number.

PG Migne, Jacques Paul, ed., Patrologiae cursus completus, series graeca (Paris: 1857-1866), 161 volumes. Cited by volume number.
PL Migne, Jacques Paul, ed., Patrologiae cursus completus, series latina (Paris: 1844-1855), 221 volumes. Cited by volume number.
CPG Geerard, M., ed., Clavis Patrum Graecorum (Turnhout: Brepols, 1974-1987), 5 volumes. Cited by volume number(s).
CPL Dekkers, E., ed., Clavis Patrum Latinorum, 3rd edition (Steenbrugis: Abbatia S. Petri, 1995). Cited by number.
TLG Berkowitz, Luci, and Karl A. Squitier, ed., Thesaurus Linguae Graecae: Canon of Greek Authors and Works, 3rd edition (New York: Oxford University Press, 1990). Cited by number.

Q Quasten, Johannes, Patrology (Utrecht-Brussels: Spectrum Publishers, 1953-1960), 3 volumes; plus volume 4 (Westminster: Christian Classics, Inc., 1986). Cited by volume number and subdivisions.
<P> Pelikan, Jaroslav, The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1971-1989), 5 volumes. Cited by volume number.

DECL Dictionary of Early Christian Literature, ed. Siegmar Döpp and Wilhelm Geerlings, translated from the German [Lexikon der antiken christlichen Literatur (1998)] by Matthew O'Connell. (New York: The Crossroad Publishing Company, 2000). Cited by page (author).
FOTC The Fathers of the Church. A New Translation. Number 100.
St. Jerome. On Illustrious Men. Translated by Thomas P. Halton. Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 1999.
GEEC Encyclopedia of Early Christianity, ed. E. Ferguson (21997), 2 volumes. Cited by page (author).
NIDCC The New International Dictionary of the Christian Church, ed. J. D. Douglas (1974). Cited by page (author).
OCD The Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. S. Hornblower and A. Spawforth (31996). Cited by page (author).
ODByz The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, ed. A. P. Kazhdan (1991), 3 volumes. Cited by page (author).
ODCC The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, ed. F. L. Cross (1957). Cited by page.
OEEC Encyclopedia of the Early Church, ed. A. DiBerardino (1992), 2 volumes. Cited by page (author).

JECS Journal of Early Christian Studies (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993--). Cited by volume: page(s) (author).
JNES Journal of Near Eastern Studies  (The University of Chicago Press, 1942--). Cited by volume: page(s) (author).
PDS The Penguin Dictionary of Saints, ed. Donald Attwater (1965). Cited by page.
TTH Translated Texts for Historians (Liverpool University Press, 1986--). Cited by volume number (author/editor).